Missing the Obvious
by Landon Richardson
Summary: Steve McGarrett's determined to find what's missing from his life, not knowing that perhaps what he needs is right in front of him. (McDanni, featuring female Danny)
1. Coming to a decision

Missing the obvious

By

Landon Richardson

Official Disclaimer

**The characters of Steve McGarrett, Chin Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua, Catherine Rollins and anyone else within the story who might sound familiar do not belong to me in any shape or form, I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes.**

**The character of Danni Williams while originally based on the male Danny Williams can easily be considered her own character now as she has her own distinctive personality and backstory which differs from the canon male Danny. Her daughter Grace can also be considered the same as she has different parents then in the show and this affects her personality. Please note as well that Grace's surname is Taylor which is Danni's married name, she reverted back to Williams once her marriage had ended.**

**The various characters who you don't recognise in this story belong to me as well.**

Author Note

**Welcome to Missing the Obvious**

**This story is one which I've been thinking about a lot today and I decided to write it up since it was clear that it wasn't going to leave me alone until I had actually written it.**

**It should be twelve chapters in length but each chapter will probably be shorter than what you're used to me putting out there lol.**

**It is also going to be done completely from Steve's point of view.**

**Enjoy the chapter**

Overall Summary

**Steve McGarrett's determined to find what's missing from his life, not knowing that perhaps what he needs is right in front of him. (McDanni, featuring female Danny)**

Chapter Summary

**Steve McGarrett breathed out as he tapped his fingertips against the mug he held absently in a forgotten beat, his eyes fixed blankly on the screen in front of him trying to figure out the best words which he could use to describe himself in the best possible light. Normally when it came to something like this, he could do it easily but this time it was different and he knew it.**

Overall Romance

**Steve McGarrett/ Danni Richardson (McDanni)**

**Steve McGarrett / Various others**

**Lee Martin / Catherine Rollins (Marllins)**

**Mentions of past Steve McGarrett / Catherine Rollins (McRollins)**

Chapter Romance

**Hints of Lee Martin / Catherine Rollins (Marllins)**

**Hints of past Steve McGarrett / Catherine Rollins (McRollins)**

Another note

**Please keep in mind that I don't have a Beta for this story so the odd mistake may creep in without me meaning it to. I have also never been to Hawaii so all locations are either from the show, google or made up in my own mind.**

* * *

Chapter One

Coming to a decision

* * *

Steve McGarrett breathed out as he tapped his fingertips against the mug he held absently in a forgotten beat, his eyes fixed blankly on the screen in front of him trying to figure out the best words which he could use to describe himself in the best possible light. Normally when it came to something like this, he could do it easily but this time it was different and he knew it.

If he was looking to blame anyone for his current predicament then it would be his Aunt since she had been the one who had managed to plant the seed of doubt in his mind that he was somehow missing out on things due to the fact that he was currently single, though in fairness, she had hardly worded it like that. She had merely expressed her concern over the phone to him the previous night that he may be lonely at times, giving how rapidly his life had changed in such a short space of time but he had read between the lines, his mind caught onto the fact that he might be missing out, her words repeating around his mind in a constant look, long after the call between them had ended.

Perhaps she had been right and he was lonely without being aware that he was, he had thought that his life was full what with his job and with the people who he had surrounded himself with on the island but he could admit, if only to himself, that there were times he did find himself longing for someone special in his life. Not only for the sexual side and the enjoyment of having someone else in his bed with him but also due to the feeling of having someone who he could confide in and just talk to about everything which was going in in his life, safe in the knowledge that they wouldn't judge him.

"The closest thing he had to a romantic relationship was the friends with benefit arrangement which he had with Catherine Rollins but he knew, deep down from the way she had been talking to him about their mutual friend Lee Martin who they served with, that the arrangement between them would be coming to an end soon once Catherine realised what her feelings towards the other man was and how they went far beyond simple friendship. The fact that Steve knew this and was unperturbed by it proved to him that he and Catherine had only meant to be a temporary thing and that their friendship would continue easily even without the sexual component.

It had been easy to come to a decision about what to do in the early hours of the morning.

His Aunt's advice had always guided him on his path from the age of fifteen and she had always been right, meaning that she was probably right in this instance as well.

That knowledge was probably the reason why he was now sat quietly in his office, adding himself onto a dating website which he had heard a few friends talk about in passing to find himself someone to go on a few dates with and to attempt a relationship with to see whether they can bring to his life the things which he was apparently lacking.

He knew that he would be considered a catch by most people, he just didn't know how to put it into words, written down in a profile which women would read, without making himself seem arrogant or big headed to them.

"What are you up to Boss man?"

Steve startled at the familiar sounding voice, realising with a shock that it was coming from beside him and that he had been so preoccupied with what he should say that he had failed to realise that Kono Kalakaua was standing beside him, her dark eyes already sixed on the screen, clearly reading what he had written already.

"Nothing? I'm not up to anything" He stated, noticing that his voice came out weakly.

"This is nothing." She repeated, a thoughtful note to her voice. "That's fair enough then because I mean to me it looks as though you are in the process of completing an online dating application for yourself instead of working on the files which you know that we have to complete by tomorrow so they can be handed over to the DA's office, remember? Because Danni was very particular about the fact they needed to get done." Kono remarked, speaking of Steve's own work partner Danni Williams.

A silence filled the office at her words before Steve breathed out nosily.

"Fine, so you caught me." He muttered, taking a sip of his coffee, his nose wrinkling up in disgust when he realised that it was already stone cold.

"I mean, is there any particular reason why you are doing this?" Kono pressed, tilting her head to the side, her eyes narrowing at him with a look of confusion.

"Why do you think Kono? Why do most people go on a site like this?" Steve countered with a raised eyebrow, pushing his embarrassment at getting caught by the Rookie of the team, deep down, knowing he would be hearing about this for weeks and months to come.

"Well the reason why most people would add themselves to a website like this is because they were looking to meet someone." She replied, her voice giving away nothing of her thoughts as she merely shrugged her slim shoulders at him.

"Well then, you have your answer about why I'm doing this then." He told her as he shifted on his chair and placed his mug back on the surface of his desk. "Is there actually a reason why you're in here when you didn't knock on the door?"

"I did knock on the door but you were too busy staring at the screen to hear me, I'm guessing because you're struggling waiting this because no offence intended Boss but your profile isn't… the best…" She admitted, turning to look at him.

"It seemed fine to me." He replied, looking away from her to stare at the screen with a frown on his face, as he reread the last sentence, hiding a wince when he realised that it had made him sound like a Douche which had been the one thing he had been trying to avoid.

"If that seems fine to you then it would explain why you're currently single and having to use this site in the first place." Kono told him bluntly as she reached up and pushed her dark hair back over her shoulder, her attention flickering back to the screen. "Are you certain that you want to go down this route?" She asked him, almost hesitantly.

"What other route is there?" Steve replied, watching as she opened her mouth as though she was about to say something before, she stopped herself, closing her mouth with a shake of her head instead.

"So, you what some help with this?" She asked him, no sign of teasing on her face or in her voice.

"Why are you offering your help?" He countered, drumming his fingers against the surface of his desk, scanning the outer bul-pen of the Five-O headquarters making sure it was empty before he focused back on Kono when she spoke up.

"I am, I wrote one of these profile things for my brother so I'm not too shabby at them." She assured him. "Let me go and grab Danni from her office because she's already finished her paperwork for the day and we can…"

"No" He stated loudly, cutting across her and ignoring the startled look she shot him in response. "Don't tell Danni about any of this." He warned her. "I don't want her to know that I'm writing this."

"You do know that Danni is going to find out that you've done this right? There is nothing that goes on in this office that she doesn't know about." Kono reminded him with a slight frown. "Why are you hiding it from her? She's not going to judge you."

"I know she isn't but I don't want her to read the profile, I'll tell her myself about it once it's up and done and there's been some sort of reaction to it but until then I…" His voice trailed off for a moment before he continued. "There is no way I'm allowing Danni to be the one to write my profile."

"Are you positive you don't want her to write it?" Kono queried. "Because you and Danni have been partners with one another for what now? Just gone four months since Five-O started, you're always together in the car or here in the office. I doubt that any of us know you as well as she does and on top of that she's really good with her words, she could have this flowing in a way which when combined with the picture you've chosen would make you irresistible to women on this site and that is what you want right?"

"I said no Kono" Steve replied, hearing the edge which had come to his voice. "If you want to help with it then fine but I do not want Danni involved in the process of this."

"Okay then" Kono said, holding her hands up in defeat. "I hear you loud and clear Boss, I won't tell Danni about this or ask her for help writing it. Just let me know what your login and password for the site on so I can log in as you and work on it. I'll have it finished by tomorrow I think since I need to give it some thought." She assured him, smiling at him though he noted that there was still a watchful gleam to her eyes which he couldn't quite read.

"Thanks, Kono" He said, reaching out and grabbing a pen and a post-it notepad from the table, he wrote the details of the account down and passed it over to the younger woman who took it from him, her eyes lowering to it before they came back up.

"And you're sure that you want to do this?" She asked, smiling at the look he shot her. "Fine, well don't say I didn't try. I'll let you know when I'm done, be ready for your burner phone to be blown up with girls wanting dates with you." She stated confidently with a grin as she moved around his desk and headed towards the office door.

"How do you know that I'm using a burner phone as my contact point?" Steve called after her with a slight frown.

"Because there is no way that you would risk using your actual cell phone just in case people managed to use the information to access it." She said, nodding at him before she left the room.

Steve stared after her before he sighed and glanced towards the pile of files waiting for him, wondering whether he had just made a terrible mistake.

* * *

Author Note

**Thanks for taking the time to read. An especially big thank you if you have left me a review, favourite the story or decided to follow it. **

**I really appreciate it**


	2. Emma

Missing the Obvious

By

Landon Richardson

Official Disclaimer

**The characters of Steve McGarrett, Chin Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua, Catherine Rollins and anyone else within the story who might sound familiar do not belong to me in any shape or form, I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes.**

**The character of Danni Williams while originally based on the male Danny Williams can easily be considered her own character now as she has her own distinctive personality and backstory which differs from the canon male Danny. Her daughter Grace can also be considered the same as she has different parents then in the show and this affects her personality. Please note as well that Grace's surname is Taylor which is Danni's married name, she reverted back to Williams once her marriage had ended.**

**The various characters who you don't recognise in this story belong to me as well.**

Author Note

**Welcome to Chapter two of Missing the obvious.**

**I'm really enjoying writing this story!**

**Just a gentle reminder that It is also going to be done completely from Steve's point of view.**

**Enjoy the chapter**

Overall Summary

**Steve McGarrett's determined to find what's missing from his life, not knowing that perhaps what he needs is right in front of him. (McDanni, featuring female Danny)**

Chapter Summary

"**This was most definitely a mistake" Steve murmured to himself, keeping the smile on his face with difficulty as his date continued to speak about everything which seemed to came to her mind. She seemed to be lacking a filter from her brain to her mouth and it was slowly, but surely, driving him mad.**

Overall Romance

**Steve McGarrett/ Danni Williams (McDanni)**

**Steve McGarrett / Various others**

**Lee Martin / Catherine Rollins (Marllins)**

**Mentions of past Steve McGarrett / Catherine Rollins (McRollins)**

**Mentions of past Duncan Taylor / Danni Williams (Dunni)**

Chapter Romance

**Steve McGarrett / Various others**

**Hints of Steve McGarrett/ Danni Williams (McDanni)**

**Mentions of past Duncan Taylor / Danni Williams (Dunni)**

Another note

**Please keep in mind that I don't have a Beta for this story so the odd mistake may creep in without me meaning it to. I have also never been to Hawaii so all locations are either from the show, google or made up in my own mind.**

* * *

Chapter Two

Emma

* * *

"This was most definitely a mistake" Steve murmured to himself, keeping the smile on his face with difficulty as his date, Emma, continued to speak about everything which seemed to came to her mind. She seemed to be lacking a filter from her brain to her mouth and it was slowly, but surely, driving him mad.

She had seemed like a good choice for him on paper, pretty and smart with a love of animals but that didn't quite prepare Steve for what she would be like in person. From the moment they had met in the foyer of the restaurant and had been seated at their table she had done nothing but complain about how difficult her job as a manager at a clothes store was or to go on about her ex-boyfriend, making it perfectly clear to Steve that she was not even remotely over the other man whoever he was.

"So" She finally said, her hands finally stilling as her latest topic of conversation about someone who worked for her finally came to a natural end much to his relief. "You've been quiet over there, why don't you tell me about yourself and your likes? Do you like animals? Tell me, how do you feel about cats?"

"How do I feel about cats?" Steve repeated, his voice coming across as slightly husky, no doubt from misuse as he doubted that he had managed to get a single word in edgeway since saying hello and introducing himself as Steve to her at the beginning of the night.

"That's right" She confirmed with a single nod at him. "I mean you know what a cat is right? A furry four-legged mammal that meows when it wants something. I have three of them at home, all of them were originally strays, they kept coming around, clearly liked it at my place and decided that they wanted to stay. I figured it was fate so kept them"

"I can't say that I have any cats of my own but I do like them." He admitted, grasping onto the topic gratefully, praying that this might be a topic which they could have an actual proper conversation together that they could both contribute to. "My younger cousin used to refer to them as furry ninjas because of how stealthily they could move and the description just stuck with me when it comes to them." He told her, noticing the small smile which came to her face at the comment, indicating that she clearly agreed with his description.

"That is a perfect way of describing them you know, they are so quiet that sometimes I turn around and there they are, tripping me up, the number of injuries I've had because of them is insane. Do you have any pets?" She asked him.

"No, I don't but my partner Danni does" Steve said on a sigh, shaking his head to emphasis his point.

"Danni?" Emma repeated, a look of confusion coming to her face.

"Yeah Danni, she's my partner at work." Steve clarified, the answer causing Emma to nod slowly at him.

"Right, I remember now, your profile did mention that you did something in law enforcement but it wasn't clear about what that was. My Ex used to absolutely love the crime shows they show on TV but I was never that much of a fan of it. The main character in them always had a partner so it makes sense that they would in real life as well though I've got to admit that I'm surprised that your partner is a woman." She commented with another shake of her head, a look of what appeared to be amusement on her face as though she found the thought of a woman being in law enforcement funny.

Steve narrowed his eyes at her, his smile falling from his face.

"Danni is amazing at what she does and I couldn't ask for a better partner covering my back on a daily basis. God knows she's pulled my ass out of the fire more times then I can count. I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for her." He stated, his words coming out clipped and angry.

"Sorry, I didn't mean any offence." She said quickly with an awkward look. "I'm sure that your partner is as good at her job as you say she is. So, you mentioned that she has a pet? Is it a cat because I seriously do love cats, there's a fourth one who has been visiting and I think she's pregnant so if she stays then I might end up keeping them all. The more cats the better right?"

"That sounds… great" Steve said, choosing his words carefully, a sudden image coming to his mind of sitting on Emma's sofa surrounding by cars and kittens, all of whom were staring at him, he resisted shuddering at the thought with difficulty.

"That's what I thought as well, but yeah, sorry, so you were saying about your partner's cat?"

"I didn't say what pet she had yet but it's not a cat" Steve corrected her, watching the disappointed look which came to her face at his comment. "She actually has a French Bulldog puppy; she got it a couple of months ago." He explained.

"She has a puppy?" Emma questioned, the look of interest from earlier coming back to her face when Steve nodded at her. "That sounds so cute, no one can resist a puppy, especially when it's that breed, my sister had one and I loved it." She told him, raising an eyebrow when he snorted at loud at her comment. "What? Did I say something which was amusing?" She asked him, a cool note coming to her voice.

"Not particularly but Roxie is definitely something which you can resist." He told her as he placed his knife and fork on his plate, slashing his hand through the air as he continued. "I'm the one who told Danni to get a dog, for six long weeks I worked on her, telling her at every opportunity I could that getting a Dog would be good extra protection for her and her daughter but instead of listening to me about the breed and getting one which could protect her from anyone, she comes back with Roxie who is more likely to lick a stranger to death then to attack them, on top of that she is tiny and as intimidating as… as… a puppy." He complained, a frown on his face as he crossed his arms.

"This is clearly a topic which you feel strongly about then." Emma said after a slight awkward pause.

"Danni's protection and safety are extremely important to me. She's my partner." He told her bluntly, aware of the second, longer silence which followed his words. Emma cleared her throat before speaking.

"Do you have a picture of the puppy? What did you call her earlier? Roxie? That's a really cute name for a puppy, was it your partner who named her? I'm assuming it's a girl?" She asked him, clearly trying to steer the conversation onto a more neutral topic.

"Yeah, I've got a picture." He said, fishing his cell phone out of the pocket of his black slacks and swiped his thumb over the screen, ignoring the messages which he had received and went into his gallery, searching through the various pictures in there before he found the one which he wanted. He selected it and held the phone out to her. "That's a picture of Roxie when Danni first got her, Danni is the one holding her in the picture, and yeah Roxie is a girl and Danni named her" He explained to her, dropping his hand when she reached out and took the phone from him.

He watched her face as she looked down at the picture, a slight frown coming to his face when he noticed that she seemed to freeze on the spot, tension flooding her frame as she looked back up at him.

"The puppy is incredibly cute; I can see why your partner would have chosen her." She commented, a careful measured tone coming to her voice. "And you said that the woman who is holding Roxie is your partner?" she asked as though she was seeking clarification from him.

"Yep, that's Danni." He confirmed, leaning back in his chair as she looked back down at the photo again.

"She's beautiful" She said eventually as she held the phone back to him. Steve leaned forward slightly and took it from her, his gaze dropping to the picture. He had to admit, if only to himself, that it was one of his favourite pictures of his partner. Danni was dressed in a pair of pyjama bottoms and a vest top, her long blonde hair which was normally secured back in the complicated style which she always favoured for work, was down, spilling over her shoulders in a messy riot of waves and curls. She was grinning at the camera, her large grey eyes sparkling happily which she hugged the small, annoyingly cute, puppy to herself. "Did she send you that picture?" Emma suddenly asked, attracting his attention.

"Send it?" He repeated before shaking his head. "No, she didn't, I took it of her. I suppose she is beautiful, I don't really think about it" He added in response to her earlier comment, dropping his eyes again as he came out of the gallery and looked at his background, a smile coming to his face at the picture of him and Danni which was the latest one he had before he placed the phone, looking back at Emma, his smile morphing into a questioning look when he realised that she was staring at her with a look he couldn't read.

"You don't think much about it." She said, searching his face before she shook her head in disbelief.

"Why would I? She's my partner." He said emphasising the word partner. "Danni is amazing regardless of the way she looks, she's smart and kind and she always has time for people. Anyone would be lucky to have her as their partner and in their lives."

"Wow, right" Emma said, reaching out and grabbing the arm of one of the waiters who happened to be passing their table at that moment. "Hello, would it be possible to get the cheque please, thank you."

"You don't want dessert?" Steve asked in confusion as she gathered her things together and came to her feet, reaching into her bag and pulling out her purse. He watched as she flipped it open and took out some notes which she threw onto the table surface.

"No thank you, I'm sorry but I've just remembered that I'm meant to give Muffin her drops and they have to be done on time or it will ruin everything and hey it's nearly time. It was nice meeting you Steve, I might see you around some day. Goodbye." She said, nodding at him with a smile which didn't meet her eyes before she turned and headed towards the exit before Steve could even come to his feet.

He stared after her before glancing down at the money she had left blankly wondering briefly why she had not mentioned the drops before. He shrugged, gathering the money together and waited patiently, finishing off his drink before the waiter returned to the table with the cheque, if he was surprised to see that Steve's companion was gone then he didn't say anything, instead simply taking the money which Steve had passed to him and wished him a good evening.

Steve waited until he was gone before he glanced down at his watch realising that it was only eight and that the date had lasted a grand total of fifty minutes. He tapped his fingers against the table surface before he pushed himself to his feet and made his way out of the restaurant and towards where he had parked his car.

He climbed in and started the engine, reversing out of the space and headed out onto the main road. He probably shouldn't have been surprised when he found himself pulling up outside of his partner's home, he needed to talk to someone about his date and he knew his partner was around that evening.

She hadn't seemed greatly surprised when he had told her on the way to their latest crime scene what his Aunt had said to him and how he had decided to join a dating site and already had a date lined up for the next day. Instead she had merely looked at him thoughtfully before giving him a mysterious smile which he hadn't seen from her before and couldn't read before telling him that she hoped that he would find what he was looking for, bringing the topic back to the case they had been working on before he could reply, leaving him floundering.

He leaned out of the car and typed in the security code for the gates and drove in, killing the engine and climbed out of the vehicle, glancing casually over his shoulder to make sure that the main gates had closed behind him before he headed up to the front door and let himself in using the key which Danni had given him for emergency use.

He closed the door, tilting his head to the side as he listened, his eyes moving towards the stairs when he heard a noise coming from upstairs. Smiling, he kicked off his shoes and headed up the staircase and down the long corridor, raising an eyebrow when he realised that Danni was in the bathroom. He stopped outside of it, hesitating only for a moment in front of the partially open door before his reached up and knocked on the door.

"Danni are you in there? Is it safe for me to come in?" He called out, listening for a moment before he smiled as he heard Danni call out.

"It's safe." He entered the room and glanced around him, raising an eyebrow when he realised that Danni was kneeling on a towel beside the bathtub, she glanced over her shoulder at him, her eyes dropping down to take in his shirt and slacks before she looked away from him with a shake of her head. "This is not what I would call an emergency Steven." She stated.

"If I had rang the doorbell then you would have had to leave whatever it is, you're doing so you could let me in, if anything I've done you a favour by using the key and letting myself in." He pointed out to her with a grin. "Speaking of which what exactly are you…" his words trailed off when two small paws appeared on the side of the bath followed by a head with a pink tongue rolling out of the mouth. "Roxie" He said flatly. "What is she doing here? I thought she would be with Gracie"

"With Gracie?" Danni repeated sounding momentarily confused. "And pray tell me Steve why would you think that Roxie would currently be with my daughter instead of here?" She asked.

"Roxie is her dog isn't she, so I assumed she would be where Grace was so she could learn responsibility and how to take care of her." Steve said with a shrug as he moved further into the room, watching as Danni's hand smoothed over Roxie's wet fur clearly making sure that all the shampoo she had used was gone.

"Did Grace tell you that Roxie was her dog?" Danni queried, laughing softly when Steve nodded at her. "Yeah, she's not" She stated. "Roxie is actually my dog though Grace does help me look after her when she can. Grace won't be getting a dog of her own until she's fourteen and old enough to be able to take care of a Dog, until then she'll have to make do with practicing on Roxie. Thankfully Duncan agrees with me so I won't have to worry about another Mr Hoppy incident." She said, speaking of the rabbit which her ex-husband had given Grace who lived in a large hutch in the garden. She raised herself up slightly, lifting Roxie out of the bath with one hand, cuddling her close to her body even though she was wet and held her free hand out to Steve. "Could you pass me that towel please?" She asked, nodding her head towards a soft looking green one.

"Sure." Steve said, twisting around and plucking it off of the hook, he held it out to her, watching as she took it from him and wrapped it around Roxie, gently patting her down, a smile coming to her face when the small puppy frantically licked at her hands and face as she worked.

"You're such a good girl my Roxie." Danni crooned, placing a kiss on Roxie's head before she stood up and placed the puppy on the ground, smiling when the small dog immediate bounded over to Steve and rested her paws against his leg, going up on her hind legs and barking at him, her small stump of a tail moving as though she was trying to wave it, clearly happy to see him. "See, I told you that she liked you Steve." Danni remarked as she folding up the towel and placed it over the towel rack before heading out of the door, both Steve and Roxie following her from the room and down the stairs into the living room. "So, you've not actually said why you're here right now, didn't you say earlier on that you had a date with someone tonight'? It's still early." She remarked as she lowered herself on the sofa with a thankful sigh, Roxie immediately climbing up and resting her head on Danni's thigh.

"I did have a date but it was an awful one." He admitted on a sigh as he dropped into the free space beside her, growling under his breathe with a roll of his eyes when Roxie immediately transferred herself onto his lap, moving around clearly in an attempt to make herself comfortable."

"It was awful?" Danni asked in surprised, glancing towards him as she leaned forward and picked up her mug from the coffee table. "What made it so awful?"

"Just hold that thought for a moment." He said, reaching down and picking up Roxie, dumping her back onto Danni's lap as he stood and left the room and heading into the large kitchen, giving it the merest of glances as he entered before he headed over to the fridge and pulled it open, scanning the contents before he plucked out a bottle of beer from within and headed back into the living room, unable to stop himself from rolling his eyes again when he saw Danni absently rubbing at Roxie's belly, the small puppy lying flat on her back over Danni's lap as though she was boneless.

She turned and looked at him, searching his eyes for a moment before she tilted her head.

"So? Tell me then what happened?" She said, settling back as though she was making herself comfortable.

"There's not much to say, the woman was called Emma and she spent the whole date talking about herself and how awful her job was and her ex and her cats, she's obsessed with cats Danni" He said. "And then when I mentioned to her that you had a puppy, after she asked me if I had any animals of my own, she went and demanded the cheque and left before it was even paid." He said grumpily as he twisted the lid off the bottle and threw it onto the coffee table before leaning back and taking a long sip, noting that Danni had picked his favourite brand again.

"Why would you talk about Roxie if she asked you if you had any pets? You don't have any." Danni pointed out, sounding confused as she looked down at the puppy in question when Roxie lifted her head and licked Danni's wrist as though she recognised her name.

"Why wouldn't I mention her?" Steve responded as though it was an obvious answer. "I'm here in your house at least three times a week and Roxie is always here. I've even taken her on walks for you if you remember?"

"You've taken her on a walk exactly two times and each time you did you complained about it." She stated with a shake of her head.

"That is twice more than anyone else has on the team." Steve countered automatically, the remark causing Danni to smile at him.

"That is true" She said with a shrug. "Why would mentioning Roxie cause your date to walk out? Did something else happen?"

"Not that I can think of, to be honest Danni I was glad when she did." Steve told her as he leaned back in the chair again and took another sip of his beer, feeling all the tension draining out of him, noticing for the first time that Danni had music playing quietly in the background. "What a surprise. Nat King Cole on again." He remarked fondly, tilting his head on the back on the sofa so he could see her.

"You know that he's one of my favourites" She answered him. "So, I'm guessing that there won't be another date with Emma?"

"Definitely not" He replied instantly, the comment causing her to smile even as she shook her head and took a sip of her drink. A comfortable silence falling between them as his eyes drifted shut simply enjoying the silence.

This had been what he needed earlier, a night of pleasant conversation with comfortable silences, not the mess which he had found himself in.

Still, he comforted himself, there was always the next date.

* * *

Author Note

**Thanks for taking the time to read. An especially big thank you if you have left me a review, favourite the story or decided to follow it. **

**I really appreciate it**


	3. Olivia

Missing the Obvious

By

Landon Richardson

Official Disclaimer

**The characters of Steve McGarrett, Chin Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua, Catherine Rollins and anyone else within the story who might sound familiar do not belong to me in any shape or form, I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes.**

**The character of Danni Williams while originally based on the male Danny Williams can easily be considered her own character now as she has her own distinctive personality and backstory which differs from the canon male Danny. Her daughter Grace can also be considered the same as she has different parents then in the show and this affects her personality. Please note as well that Grace's surname is Taylor which is Danni's married name, she reverted back to Williams once her marriage had ended.**

**The various characters who you don't recognise in this story belong to me as well.**

Author Note

**Welcome to Chapter three of Missing the obvious.**

**Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out, my week turned out to be a busy one but here we go, hopefully the next chapter will be up on Thursday as usual.**

**Enjoy the chapter**

Overall Summary

**Steve McGarrett's determined to find what's missing from his life, not knowing that perhaps what he needs is right in front of him. (McDanni, featuring female Danny)**

Chapter Summary

"**Where in God's name are we?"**

Overall Romance

**Steve McGarrett/ Danni Williams (McDanni)**

**Steve McGarrett / Various others**

**Lee Martin / Catherine Rollins (Marllins)**

**Hints of Charlie Webster / Danni Williams (Channi)**

**Mentions of past Steve McGarrett / Catherine Rollins (McRollins)**

**Mentions of past Duncan Taylor / Danni Williams (Dunni)**

Chapter Romance

**Steve McGarrett / Various others**

**Hints of Steve McGarrett/ Danni Williams (McDanni)**

**Hints of Charlie Webster / Danni Williams (Channi)**

Another note

**Please keep in mind that I don't have a Beta for this story so the odd mistake may creep in without me meaning it to. I have also never been to Hawaii so all locations are either from the show, google or made up in my own mind.**

* * *

Chapter Three

Olivia

* * *

"Where in God's name are we?"

Steve hid a wince as his date's voice soared over the background hum of conversations bringing unneeded attention to themselves, the light edge to it which had sounded pleasant when Steve had picked her up earlier, now sounded shrill, causing his brain to give a sharp stab of pain.

He breathed out, forcing himself to focus his attention on her question, his eyes scanning around him before he looked back at her as he answered her, noticing that her brown eyes were now narrowed at him.

"We're at the Pacific Skydiving centre." Steve responded, resisting the urge with difficulty to wave his hand towards the large sign situated near to them which clearly had their current location's name written in bold, black lettering on it.

"I've worked out that much for myself thank you." She snapped at him as she crossed her arms over her chest, her foot tapping against the ground. "I want to know why we're here"

Steve stared at her for a moment, taking a moment to consider the best way of answering her question without making her feel like a fool for asking it in the first place. He forced a smile onto his face and spoke.

"We're here to go skydiving" He replied, his smile becoming fixed when her eyes narrowed further at his response.

She had seemed nice when they had spoken over text and there was something about her which had reminded him vaguely of Catherine though he knew that it was probably due to the fact that she had been tall with dark hair and eyes.

According to her profile she had liked adventure which was something they had in common and was why he had agreed to the date in the first place as long as he had been the one to organise it which she had initially seemed happy by.

Clearly, given her expression and body language, that wasn't the case.

"We're going skydiving?" She repeated, dropping her arms. She brought one hand up to her face, pinching the bridge of her nose while her other hand curled up into a fist at her side. "Tell me Steven, do I look like I'm dressed to go skydiving?" She demanded.

Steve's eyes dropped down taking in the dress and high heels she had chosen to wear before he shrugged at him.

"I did tell you in the text to wear something practical today." He pointed out to her, knowing from the way her face reddened that it had been the wrong thing to say to her at that moment in time.

"What I'm wearing is practical for a first date." She all but shrieked at him, attracting the attention of the people around them who had been waiting patiently for their turns to sign the necessary paperwork to skydive.

"Look, there is no reason to get upset over it, the place will provide you with the necessary equipment including a jumpsuit so your dress and heels will be fine." Steve told her practically. "Shall we head over and sign the wavers now, normally there would be a four hour wait to head off but I know the guy who is running the jumps today so we should be one of the first people to head up in the plane."

"You want me to head up in a plane?" She stated with a shake of her head. "Why would I ever choose to get into a plane willingly when I hate flying, tell me that Steven."

"You hate flying?" Steve stated in disbelief.

"That is what I just said, it's good to know that you can at least listen." She replied angrily, the tone riling Steve up in response.

"If you hate flying so much then why the hell would you put it down as one of your likes in your profile. You said that you liked sky diving and adventure as well." He demanded.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She replied, her tone clipped and angry as she pulled the bag she had with her open violently and searching through it, pulling out her cell phone and going something on it. Steve waited, turning his head to look across the room at his friend Charlie who was watching the scene with growing amusement. Steve glanced back at Olivia just as she looked back up at him. "That was meant to be in the dislike column, not in the like column." She told him, glaring at him as though he was personally responsible for her error.

Steve stared back passively, no doubt she had completed the application on a whim after a night out with a few glasses of wine and had managed to misread it somehow.

"I see" Steve replied, the words lingering between them as they continued to glare at each other.

"Is everything okay here?"

Steve barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes when Charlie appeared at their sides, his face the picture of concern right up until the moment that Olivia looked away from them so she could put her phone back in her bag, at the point he shot Steve a wicked grin.

"Everything is fine here, it's just a simple misunderstanding, that's all." Steve assured his friend with a pointed look and a wave of his hand in an attempt to make the other man go away.

"Is everything okay with you Ma'am?" Charlie asked politely, ignoring Steve.

"No, it's not." She replied as she looked back up and jabbed her finger in Steve's directions. "My date has brought me here to go skydiving together even though I hate flying. This is our first date, who in their right mind would bring someone skydiving as a first date?" She demanded, a spiteful tone to her voice.

"I don't know, how about someone who was under the impression that the person who he was taking out on a date would be clever enough to be able to work out the difference between a like and a dislike column on a application." Steve countered her, a cool tone to his voice as he met her angry gaze.

"Well mistakes happen all the time." Charlie said breezily before turning his attention back to Steve. "It's always good to see you Buddy but where is your delightful better half? Where is Danni today?"

"His better other half?" Olivia demanded, sounding suitably confused by the comment.

"Ignore him, he's just talking about my work partner Danni, that's all." Steve told her, not because he cared about what she thought but because she would be the type of woman who would go onto the dating site and write a message to everyone to tell them that Steve had an other half already and to leave him well alone. He turned back to Charlie. "She's gone to a dog park with Gracie and the puppy of doom to give it a workout." He replied.

"I'm guessing thar you've still had no luck in convincing her to give skydiving a chance?" The blonde man asked him, jabbing his thumb over his desk towards the desk and entrance to the hanger. "Because you can let her know that I would happily let her try the whole experience for free and even go up and jump out with her." He said, ignoring the glare Steve shot him as he read between the lines.

"I've told you before that going skydiving isn't Danni's thing, apart from when she has to fly for a case or she heads back to New Jersey then she would rather her feet stay safely on the ground, her words not mine." Steve said with a shake of her head. "And don't think I don't know what you're doing here Charlie, I've told her time and time again that Danni is off the market, she's not looking to date anyone."

"And how would you know that? Have you asked her whether that is how she feels?" Charlie countered with a grin which widened when he glanced over Steve's shoulder. "By the way, your date has gone."

Steve glanced over his shoulder, noticing that Olivia was stomping across the uneven ground to where he had parked his truck, clearly done with the date which Steve was thankful for. The last thing we wanted to do now was spend any additional time with the woman now standing beside the passenger door.

"Thank God for small mercies." He muttered before turning back to his friend and holding his hand out to the other man, allowing him to pull him into a brief hug and gritted his teeth at the hard slap on the back he received as well. "Thanks for setting this up for me even if it didn't exactly turn out the way I thought it would. I appreciate the effort."

"Oh, you still owe me for all of this even if it didn't happen." Charlie assured him with a casual shrug of his broad shoulders. "And I'm cashing it in already. I want you to give my cell number to Danni and ask her to call me so I can ask her out on a date."

Steve pulled back from the taller man, his eyes narrowing.

"Like I told you before Charlie, Danni is busy." He replied, keeping his voice light.

"I want to hear that from Danni herself, Steve." Charlie replied, an amused look in his dark blue eyes. "Look, you better head off before your date's head explodes because she looked close to it right about now. Give me number to Danni, don't make me have to turn up at your office."

"Don't make me have to give your picture to the guards." Steve commented, slapping his palm against Charlie's bicep before he turned and headed over to his truck, unlocking it and climbing into the driver's seat without a word to Olivia. He wated until she was in the vehicle with her seatbelt on before he started the engine and drove away, maintaining his silence until he pulled up outside the apartment block which Olivia said she lived in. "We're here." He stated briefly, not bothering to turn off the engine or take his hands off of the steering wheel.

She climbed out and looked back at him.

"It is safe to say that there won't be a second date, I'm going to lose your number." She told him, clearly hesitating by the door waiting to see what his reply would be.

He turned and looked at her, meeting her eyes directly as he spoke clearly.

"Good."

He took some satisfaction when she made a squawking sound in response, hitting the accelerator the minute she closed the door, placing as much space between the two of them as he could and made a mental note to block her number before deleting it.

He blinked, coming out of his thoughts and realising with in surprise that he had driven to the Hawai'i Kai Dog park before he shrugged and parked in a free space. He climbed out of the vehicle, closing the door and locking it behind him before he moved into the park, his eyes skirting over the area.

It didn't take long before he spotted a flash of gold and headed over to it, a smile coming to his face when he saw Danni standing under the shade of one of the large trees, her eyes fixed on the sight of her daughter Grace running around with Roxie, the sound of laughter and barking reaching him clearly on the air.

He breathed out, the coil of tension in his stomach easing away when Danni turned at his approach, her grey eyes widening slightly before she lifted up one hand and waved at him, a warm smile coming to her face.

"Hey Danni" He said as he came to a stop beside her.

"Hey Steve" She replied, her voice soothing after the last couple of hours he had spent in Olivia's company. "What brings you to the park?"

"I found myself with some free time so I figured that I might as well come over here and see what you were up to. I remember you mentioning yesterday on the way to the crime scene that you had been planning of spending the morning here with Grace and Roxie so that the pup could have a proper run around."

Danni nodded at him.

"They both love when we come here." She confided in him, sounding content as she turned to look at them again, a soft smile on her face. "I thought you mentioned yesterday that you had a date this morning which would last for most of the day? Did something go wrong?" She asked curiously.

"That date" Steve repeated with a shake of his head. "Let's just say that she wasn't quite who she had portrayed herself as Danni."

"Oh?" She responded, turning to look at him again, she searched his eyes before making a motion with her hand clearly telling him non verbally to continue.

"She wrote very clearly in her likes that she enjoyed going on adventures and flying so I decided to contact Charlie and pull in a favour with him to take her skydiving today. I told her in the texts to dress practically but she clearly ignored that advice because she turned up in a short dress and a pair of high heels." He explained with roll of his eyes.

"A dress and heels can be practical." Danni interjected smoothly.

"Yeah, they can be if you're the one wearing them Danni but I doubt even you would wear them to go skydiving and if your date told you to dress practically." He pointed out.

"That's true." She admitted. "So, she turned up in the wrong outfit but that's not something which would end a date surely? They would provide clothing and equipment there."

"Right" Steve agreed. "So, we arrive at the place and the minute we get there, she throws a fit and starts complaining about everything in a loud voice so everyone can hear the conversation and then she drops the bombshell that she hates flying."

"She hates it? I thought you said that she had placed it in her likes. Did you read the form wrong?" She asked with a frown.

"No, she completed the form wrong, she managed somehow to place her likes in the dislike column and her dislikes in the likes column and then had the nerve to pretty much blame me for her doing that as though I was somehow responsible for the error."

"I see" Danni said, a tone to her voice which made him glance over to her and roll her eyes when he saw her mouth twitching.

"You know this isn't funny." He said pointedly, a reluctant smile coming to her face when she started laughing, the sound warming him.

"I'm sorry Steve but it really is. I can picture your expression when she told you that." She said, still laughing. "What made you decide on skydiving?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time since she said she liked flying and adventure." He admitted with a shrug.

"Steve, trust me when I say that taking anyone skydiving as a first date is a bad idea." She advised him, still grinning.

"Really, okay let me ask you this then Danni, if you and I went on a date and I took you as a first date skydiving, would you have thrown a temper tantrum in front of everyone and caused a scene?" He asked her, searching her eyes when her grin softened into a thoughtful smile.

"No, I would have done that but it doesn't mean that I would have been happy with your plan especially if you surprised me with it." She responded.

"But you still would have gone skydiving with me?" Steve pressed, the question causing Danni to sigh.

"I would have done it" She said finally. "But only because I would have seen how much effort you had put into arranging for us to do it, then I would immediately demand to be the one who organised the next date because God only knows what you would pick to top that first date." She said with a shake of her head, grinning again.

"You know I would have let you arrange it as well." He replied.

"How is Charlie by the way? Is he well?" Danni asked him suddenly, an interested look in her eyes which he picked up on. He hesitated for a moment before he shrugged.

"He's good, same old Charlie."

"I'm glad to hear it, I liked him when I met him that one time, I was thinking that one time he should come to dinner. Do you think he would say yes if I asked him?" She queried.

Steve stared at her, his stomach twisting at her question before he looked away at the sound of running footsteps followed by a familiar voice.

"Stevie, what are you doing here? Mamma didn't say that you were joining us today."

Steve grinned as Grace came to a stop in front of him with a wide, welcoming smile on her face.

"Hey Gracie, I wasn't going to be here but I had some spare time so I thought I would come and hang out with you and your Mom if that is okay with you?" He asked her as he hunched down so he was on level with her, absently pushing Roxie away from him when the small puppy tried to jump up on his knee.

"That's fine with me and Roxie." Grace said with a nod at him, her long dark ponytail bobbing with the movement. "We're staying here a bit longer and then we're going out for lunch right Mamma?" She asked, her dark green eyes flickering over to Danni who nodded at her.

"That's the plan." She agreed, glancing down at the watch on her wrist before focusing back on them. "We can stay here for another thirty minutes and then we'll head off." She reached into the large bag on her shoulder and pulled out a small bowl and a bottle of water. Steve stood, watching as Danni placed the bowl on the ground and poured the water in, her hand coming out to stroke Roxie the minute the puppy came running up to her, lapping at the liquid eagerly. "You're welcome to join us at lunch as well if you want Steve, since your… plans have fallen through." She offered as she came back up to her feet, clearly choosing her words carefully now that Grace was within hearing range of them both.

"That sounds like a good plan to me though I get to pick where we go for lunch, agreed?" He said, grinning when they both have him identical suspicious looks.

"I don't think so Steve." Danni replied with a shake of her head. "No offence but giving the decisions you've already made this morning I think it's best if I pick where we go to lunch."

"Fine but what happened this morning wasn't my fault. I'm actually very good at planning for things." He pointed out to her.

"Okay then" She replied, the disbelief clear in her voice.

"I can admit that out of the two of us you're the best organiser." He corrected himself, his heart swelling when she gave him the smile which he privately though of as his own. "But I'll show you with the next one I go on that I can organise." He promised, his eyes flickering to Grace before he looked back at Danni in time to see her shake her head at him.

"You should want to do it for yourself, not for me." She told him quietly before she clapped her hands together and smiled down at Grace and Roxie. "Okay, thirty minutes starting from now so let's make sure we give Roxie a good workout." She stated, moving away from them, Roxie immediately loping after her as fast as her little legs could manage.

Steve waited until Grace had joined them before he let out a sigh, his mind already running through various ideas about how he could show Danni that he could organise something well without relying on her.

"Steve are you joining us?"

"Yeah, I'm coming Danni." He said, lifting his hand up at them before jogging towards them.

It would be a challenge getting the next date right but if there was one thing which he thrived on then it was a challenge.

* * *

Author Note

**Thanks for taking the time to read. An especially big thank you if you have left me a review, favourite the story or decided to follow it. **

**I really appreciate it**


	4. Iris

Missing the obvious

By

Landon Richardson

Official Disclaimer

**The characters of Steve McGarrett, Chin Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua, Catherine Rollins and anyone else within the story who might sound familiar do not belong to me in any shape or form, I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes.**

**The character of Danni Williams while originally based on the male Danny Williams can easily be considered her own character now as she has her own distinctive personality and backstory which differs from the canon male Danny. Her daughter Grace can also be considered the same as she has different parents then in the show and this affects her personality. Please note as well that Grace's surname is Taylor which is Danni's married name, she reverted back to Williams once her marriage had ended.**

**The various characters who you don't recognise in this story belong to me as well.**

Author Note

**Welcome to Chapter Four of Missing the obvious.**

**Apologises for the delay in this chapter coming out, I know its been about two weeks since I last updated. I'm in a new job so I've been adjusting to that hence why I haven't written much. I'm more settled now so the updates should become regular again.**

**Enjoy the chapter**

Overall Summary

**Steve McGarrett's determined to find what's missing from his life, not knowing that perhaps what he needs is right in front of him. (McDanni, featuring female Danny)**

Chapter Summary

**Steve stared blankly at the man in front of him who responded by staring back at him, the expression on his good-looking face the right mixture between regret, embarrassment and annoyance though the regret and embarrassment did little to lessen Steve's growing desire to punch the older man in the face. He waited, eyes narrowed, until the man finally broke eye contact with him to shift awkwardly on the spot before he spoke again.**

Overall Romance

**Steve McGarrett/ Danni Williams (McDanni)**

**Steve McGarrett / Various others**

**Lee Martin / Catherine Rollins (Marllins)**

**Hints of Charlie Webster / Danni Williams (Channi)**

**Mentions of past Steve McGarrett / Catherine Rollins (McRollins)**

**Mentions of past Duncan Taylor / Danni Williams (Dunni)**

Chapter Romance

**Steve McGarrett / Various others**

**Hints of Steve McGarrett/ Danni Williams (McDanni)**

Another note

**Please keep in mind that I don't have a Beta for this story so the odd mistake may creep in without me meaning it to. I have also never been to Hawaii so all locations are either from the show, google or made up in my own mind.**

* * *

Chapter Four

Iris

* * *

Steve stared blankly at the man in front of him who responded by staring back at him, the expression on his good-looking face the right mixture between regret, embarrassment and annoyance though the regret and embarrassment did little to lessen Steve's growing desire to punch the older man in the face. He waited, eyes narrowed, until the man finally broke eye contact with him to shift awkwardly on the spot before he spoke again.

"There must be some mistake, could you check again please." Steve said, keeping his voice pleasant with effort, aware that his date was standing beside him, watching the scene, her eyes flickering between himself and the man who had introduced himself as Andrew, as though she was attending a tennis match.

"I'm sorry Mr McGarrett but it's the same as the other three times which I've already checked for you. Your name isn't on the list for tonight, according to this there is no reservation. I can only assume there has been a mix up which I apologise for but there is nothing more I can do." He assured him with a shake of his head, his eyes flickering past Steve briefly, no doubt taking in the growing queue behind Steve, and his date, Iris.

"Look, Andrew you said your name was, I made this reservation three days ago. I rang up and I spoke to someone directly and they assured me that the reservation for tonight had been made and now you're telling me that they what? That they lied to me about it and there is nothing you can do?" He asked, his hand curling into a fist at his side, something Andrew clearly picked up on.

"Do you remember exactly who you spoke to on the phone Mr McGarrett?" He asked, his eyes focusing back on Steve with a questioning look.

"No, he didn't give me a name when he answered the phone or took the booking. He sounded young though, perhaps someone in their early twenties if you have someone working here who is around that age and answers the phones." Steve answered him, silently cursing himself for making the call while he had been at work and distracted by a case.

"Unfortunately, there are at least four people who we employ who fit that age range." The man told him regretfully, tapping his pen against the open reservation book in front of him, his eyes lowering to it.

"Well if you bring them out then I'll be able to tell you instantly which one I spoke to and they can clear this mess up." Steve replied with a wave of his hand towards the entrance which led to where people were seated.

"None of them are in today Mr McGarrett" The man responded a cool note entering his voice which made Steve grit his teeth.

"I'm sorry to interrupt" Steve's date suddenly said, a smile on her pretty face. "Is there any chance at all that whoever took the booking could have put it on the wrong day? I mean it's an easy mistake to make if they were already on it, could you check please?" She asked politely.

Andrew glanced at her before he turned the page, his eyes scanning it before it lightened.

"It appears your companion is right" He said, tapping his finger against the page. "Whoever took your reservation must have misheard you or been on the wrong page when you called because they have placed your reservation as tomorrow at seven rather than seven tonight." He explained, looking up at them both.

Steve stared at him for a moment, wishing he had the name of the person who had messed his reservation up so he could personally strangle them.

"Well since the error was on your side then can you fit us in now since it's not our fault that whoever took the reservation in the first place was unable to take a reservation properly." Steve stated firmly.

"Again, I'm truly sorry Mr McGarrett but like I said earlier, we are fully booked tonight, there is simply no space to place you and your date. If you want to keep your reservation tomorrow or come again next weekend then we will of course offer you a discount to make up for the error tonight".

"It was tonight I needed it for." Steve said before he turned and headed toward the exit, aware of Iris turning to follow him out of the restaurant.

"That was a shame that they messed the booking up." She said, breaking the silence between them once they were outside. "I was looking forward to eating there but these things happen, do you want to do something else instead?"

"Instead" Steve repeated before he shrugged. "I don't know." He admitted as he buried his hands into the pocket of his slacks, tilting his head back so he can look at the sky, picking out the streaks of colour. He could already picture the expressions on his teams faces if this got out to them, especially after he had made a big deal about telling them his plans so he could show his partner that he could organise a date if he needed to.

"Maybe we could go for a coffee?" She suggested, searching his face for a moment before speaking again "Though I'm guessing from the look on your face that you don't want coffee right now.

"I'm sorry, I know I'm coming across as a jackass, I'm a nice guy I'm just…" his words faded off as he reached up and ran his hand over the top of his hair.

"Disappointed" She finished for him, shooting him a smile when he looked over at her. "And for the record Steve you're not coming across as a Jackass and I would know because so far every date I've been on from the site has been literally me going out with Jackasses." She assured him, her smile widening into a grin which brought a reluctant smile to his face, thankful that she was nothing like Olivia had been. "You do seem to have your heart set on eating here tonight though, any reasoning behind it or are you just that in love with the food?" She asked him lightly.

Steve shrugged, considering her question before he answered her.

"It's going to sound stupid." He warned her, tilting his head slightly, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully when she laughed at the remark, her own green eyes twinkling in amusement at him.

"Steve, I'm a elementary school teacher, I promise you that there is nothing you tell me right now that will be able to top some of the things which I hear from my kids unless your reason is more dramatic than Aliens abducting your homework for research." She told him, the comment startling him for a moment before he laughed.

"Don't tell me that a kid actually tried to use that excuse on you?" He asked, shaking his head in disbelief when she nodded at him.

"He did, trust me the days of the excuses being about your dog eating your homework are long gone now, we hear them all. To be honest with you, I almost let him off not handing it in just for being so unique with his reasons." She responded before giving him a frank stare. "Don't think though you can put me off finding your own reasons though, you were about to tell me why it was so important that we ate here? I literally thought at one point that you were going to shake the poor guy."

"I'm a cop" He said with a shrug, noting her confused look as he continued speaking. "And my partner is called Danni and she's a woman." He waited for a second to see whether she would make a comment about Danni's gender but Iris simply remained silent, clearly waiting for him to finish. "And she is an amazing partner which probably has something to do with who she is but also because we balance one another out both on the field and out of it, her being my partner makes her one of the most important people in my life."

"I would imagine she is." Iris agreed with a nod at him. "I mean police work is dangerous and you have to be able to trust your partner since most of the time when you're out at a scene or doing whatever it is, you're doing, you're having to put your life in their hand and vice versa." She said thoughtfully, smiling when he shot her a questioning look. "I watch a lot of crime shows in my free time and my cousin is a Detective back in Delaware so I hear about it from him as well." She explained.

"Well you're exactly right." He told her, feeling some of the tensions easing out of his shoulders. "Danni is amazing and one of her main strengths is how good she is at organising things. She keeps everything with the cases and our headquarters running smoothing and I…" He stopped trying to pick out the right words.

"Aren't fantastic at organising things." Iris finished for him, smiling when he shot her another look. "Its not that hard a leap to make, you said earlier that you and Danni balance one another out, if she is amazing at organising then it would stand to reason that you are not. She is the Ying to your Yang."

"I guess she is, well I organised the last date I went on and it didn't go too well, in fact I guess you could call it a disaster and when I spoke to Danni about it afterwards she seemed to think that it was the organisation of the date which might have been a factor in it." Steve said slowly as they both began walking away from the restaurant and towards where they had parked their cars.

"Okay, now I need to know what you organised." Iris commented, tilting her head to side so she could watch him still.

"I took my last date skydiving or rather I tried to." He admitted, watching as Iris's eyes widened at the answer before he looked away.

"You took them skydiving?" Iris repeated.

"Yeah, looking back now it probably wasn't the best choice but it was one which made sense at the time since she had stated that she liked to fly and was also into adventure so I figured she would enjoy it and find it memorable" He responded.

"I'm guessing she didn't though?" Iris asked.

"No, it turns out that she had managed to put all her actual likes into the dislike column on the form and her dislikes into the likes so you can see how it went wrong, I literally arranged her worst nightmare. I went to Danni afterwards and told her and she said that skydiving as a first date for anyone probably wasn't the wisest course to take." Steve said, slipping his hands back into his pockets as he pictured Danni's amused smiled in his mind, the sight of it warming his heart.

"It sounds to me like your partner is a wise woman." Iris agreed, attracting his attentions from his thoughts. "What does it have to do with you and eating in the restaurant tonight though?"

"It's not so much eating in the restaurant, it's just that I told Danni that I would have my next date organised down to a tee and I told her exactly what I had planned." Steve admitted, his shoulders hunching up slightly.

"I see so Danni knew that stage one was the restaurant so if she heard that we didn't go." Iris said, her words trailing off as she came to a stop beside a black car which Steve assumed belonged to her as she had a set of keys in her hands.

"Then she would know something had gone wrong and I just want to be able to tell her that it went right." He told her with a shrug.

There was a slight silence before Iris spoke, a thoughtful tone to her voice.

"How about this, we call it a night tonight and then next Saturday, if you're free that is, we'll try a take two of the date because I must admit that I am curious about what you have arranged for us. You can even tell Danni if you want that I had to cancel last minute and so you had to rearrange it, that way you don't have to tell her about the mistake with the restaurant unless you want to. How does that sound"? She asked him.

"That sounds good though it would have to be Sunday as I've got plans on Saturday already. I can always book the table for an hour earlier than tonight due to us both having work the next day?" He suggested.

"That sounds fine with me, so six PM next Sunday it is then, we'll meet outside the restaurant again and see what happens, you have my number so call me if you need to okay?" She said as she unlocked the driver's door and pulled it open.

"Sounds good, if anything changes due to my work then I'll let you know." He told her, waiting until she had climbed into her car and started the engine up before he lifted his hand to wave at her. He turned and headed down the road to where he had parked his own car, climbing in and starting the engine before he pulled away from the curb and took the route that would lead to his own house, knowing already that Danni was out at that moment in time with a group of friends.

He drove in silence, listening absently to the music from the radio before he pulled the car into his driveway and killed the engine, climbing out of the vehicle and headed to his house, breathing out a sigh of relief as he closed the door behind him.

He glanced around the empty living room before he headed towards the kitchen, rustling himself up a quick, light meal which he ate in front of the TV.

It was about an hour later when he finally gave into the temptation and pulled out his cell phone, pressing down on the number one button and brought the handset to his ear, listening to the sound of the phone ringing before it was picked up.

"Evening Steve" Danni said quietly.

"Evening Danni, sorry to interrupt your girl's night out." He apologised.

"You haven't interrupted it so don't worry; we've actually finished now. It was more a girlie afternoon at the movies before he grabbed a quick meal together then a proper night out, I'm on my way back to my car now."

"Are you by yourself" Steve couldn't help but ask her, a frown coming to his face at her response.

"I am on my own but don't worry Steve, I'm parked in a crowded place with plenty of lights and people around, not to mention that I'm a cop and can defend myself. You don't need to worry about me." She assured him before changing the subject. "So how did tonight's date go? Better than the one with Olivia I hope?" She asked sounding curious.

"It didn't happen" He told her with a shake of his head even though he knew she couldn't see him.

"No? What happened?" She asked him, sounding surprised. He could hear the sound of her heels stopping and a car alarm being turned off indicating that she had reached her Camaro.

"The restaurant messed up our booking so instead of booking it in tonight then ended up booking it tomorrow. There was no space free for us." He told her as he leaned back against the sofa trying to get comfortable.

"That's happened to me before, It's always such a pain." She consoled him, sympathy tinging her voice. "Was your date okay about it? Iris did you say her name was earlier?"

"Actually, she was great about it. She seems really nice; we're going on a date next Sunday instead as a sort of take two." He told her.

"Not on the Saturday?" She asked him.

"No, Grace is with her Dad which means that I'll be with you, the same way I am every Saturday night when she is. Aren't we doing home made Chinese food you said?" He asked her.

"We are, I hadn't forgotten" She assured her. "I just don't want you to think that you have to still do it if you rather go on a date."

"I'd rather stick to our plan Danni, I'll see Iris on Sunday, it's fine, we've already arranged it." He stated.

"It's good to know you've managed to find someone who seems fairly normal so far." Danni commented with a soft laugh. "I was beginning to wonder given how you described the first two dates if you ever would. What are you up to now?" She asked him, changing the subject.

"Nothing, I've just had some food and that is it." He replied.

"If you've got no plans now then do you want to come around here? Grace is at a sleepover at a friend's house until tomorrow morning so I've got the house to myself and am planning a movie night. I've even got popcorn and those sweets which you're obsessed with even though you try and make out that you're not." She offered.

Steve couldn't help the grin which came to his face.

"Movies, popcorn and sweets on a Saturday night sounds perfect, who could resist that. I'll leave mine now and head to yours."

"Great, I should be home in about twenty-five minutes or so depending on traffic so if you bear me there then just let yourself in, could you turn the coffee machine on and let Roxie out as well so she can do her business. I could really kill for a latte now." She told him, sounding briefly tired.

"I'll go one step further and make you one the way you like it." He promised her, smiling when she made a small huffing sound of amusement over the line.

"That sounds good to me, I'll see you soon, you can tell me what you have planned for next Sunday as well." She stated before she hung up on him, leaving him staring at his phone for a moment before he hung up on his end, glancing around him as he headed over to the front door and leaned down to pull his boots on, thankful that he had already changed into a pair of jeans a t-shirt when he had gotten home.

Perhaps tonight wouldn't be such a waste after all.

* * *

Author Note

**Thanks for taking the time to read. An especially big thank you if you have left me a review, favourite the story or decided to follow it. **

**I really appreciate it**


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